Wife cannot claim share in husband's pension under Domestic Violence Act: Court

Nagpur: Wife cannot claim share in husband's retirement benefits based on Domestic Violence Act. The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court clarified in a decision on a case that this law does not apply to this demand. Justice Vinay Joshi gave this important decision.

Determining the estranged wife's eligibility to share in her husband's retirement benefits is a very important issue. However, this issue cannot be dealt with under the Domestic Violence Act. For that, it is necessary to take appropriate action in the appropriate forum and take a decision, the court also pointed out.

The husband in the case was a Vekoli employee. He retired in December 2014. This couple was married in 1969. They separated in 2004 due to growing differences. Meanwhile, the wife had filed an application under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the court of the First Class Magistrate in 2005 to get maintenance from the husband. That court has approved that application in 2012 and granted a monthly maintenance of Rs.2 thousand to the wife. The husband has shown his willingness to pay this amount. Apart from this, the wife is open to increase in income depending on the situation.

The court also highlighted various factors that if the controversial application of the wife is upheld, it will be an abuse of legal process. The disputed application was filed in 2014, ten years after the wife separated from Patti. She did not explain the reason for the delay, nor did her application mention a specific incident of domestic violence. All the allegations were made by Maugham and superficially. She did not claim other benefits under the Act. Emphasis only on waiting in retirement benefits was given.